Dorset County Council has vowed to put an end to school bus chaos.

Students at schools across the county had been faced a battle to get to schools and colleges as buses have been turning up late or in some cases not at all.

Pupils have been trying to pack onto overflowing public buses while their school buses have been virtually empty at the school gates.

Dorset County Council contracted Blandford-based company Damory Coaches in a change up to school transport providers over the summer.

An internal investigation has been launched by Dorset County Council into the causes of the problem.

The county council used its own fleet and other contractors to cover five routes.

These will be returned to Damory when all journeys are operating normally. Currently Damory operats 200 journeys.

Toni Coombs, the county council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Children should be transported to school safely.

“I am extremely concerned that the situation in the past week has been unacceptable and we are working closely with Damory to understand why this has happened.”

She added: “Damory have been open in explaining the issues facing them in the implementation of this substantial new contract, and the number of the problems that have occurred.

“Following detailed discussions, our managers have been assured by Damory that it has suitable plans in place to correct the problems and improve performance. I shall personally be closely monitoring this to ensure that we keep on track.

“We are also launching an internal investigation to probe into the issues we’ve had with the transition into this new contract. We are taking this matter extremely seriously and will do everything we can to prevent this sort of failure from happening again.”

Mrs Coombes added that parents could appeal about their child’s entitlement to school buses.

She said: “If parents are unhappy with decisions about their child’s entitlement they can appeal against the decision.”

But one parent said that investigation will not solve the problem of overcrowding on the buses.

Ian Stone, from Preston, brought his daughter a £270 a year ticket for First bus rather than a £400 a year school bus one.

He said: “It doesn’t solve the problem we have in Weymouth.

“They might be addressing the routes where Damory aren’t turning up, but they are running fine here but no-one is using them.

“They are using public transport because they can’t afford to pay.”

Parents who want to complain to the county council can fill out an online complaint form at www.dorsetforyou.com/complaints/county or if they do not have internet access, telephone 01305 221061.